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A fund has been started to benefit the children of parents who died in a murder-suicide Monday.

The fund was started by the Southern Sudanese Community of Washington, a state-registered nonprofit organization, to assist the four children, ages 2, 4, 14 and 17.

King County Sheriff’s Department investigators say Jesika Wani was killed at home by her husband, James Wani Soka, who then killed himself by driving into the path of a semitrailer truck along Highway 18 south of Issaquah.

The Wani family relocated to the Puget Sound area in 1995 from a refugee camp to escape civil war in their native country of Sudan. They originally were from Kajikaji, a village near Juba in southern Sudan, said Elise Daniel, deputy director of the community organization.

Donations to the Wani and Jesika Fund may be made at any Washington Mutual or Bank of America branch or through the Southern Sudanese Community of Washington, 510 Second Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119, Daniel said.

The Kenmore City Council is expected to vote on whether to ban cardrooms in the city following a public hearing at 7 p.m. Monday.

The meeting will be at the Northshore Public Utility District, 6830 N.E. 185th St., Kenmore.

The issue involves whether to adopt an ordinance prohibiting social card-game gambling and an amendment to the city zoning code to ban such activities. The hearing is required for such a code change.

The council voted in November to ban cardrooms but then decided a public hearing was legally necessary before amending the zoning code. The effect of the ban would be to close the city’s single existing cardroom and prohibit others from opening.

Bothell

Jacobson appointed

public-works head

Bothell has appointed Doug Jacobson as its new public-works director, said City Manager Bob Stowe.

Jacobson came from Mill Creek, where he had been public-works director since 2002.

Before working in Mill Creek, Jacobson was the Lake Forest Park city administrator from 1996-2002 and has served in other municipal positions.

Jacobson was chosen from 31 applicants. The Bothell job pays from $92,640 to $117,096 a year. Jacobson is to start work Jan. 9.

Redmond

Session will discuss

fire staff relocation

King County Fire District 34 commissioners will hold a community forum from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Monday regarding staff relocation.

The meeting will be at Redmond Fire Station 15, 4200 228th Ave. N.E., just north of the Redmond-Fall City Highway.

The change involves reassigning some fire staff to a new station on Northeast Aldercrest Drive in the Redmond Ridge area.

The transfers are expected to take place in January, said Lt. Thomas Langton, Redmond Fire Department public-information officer.